ISLAMABAD: The special court constituted to try former military ruler Pervez Musharraf for high treason indicted him on Monday, DawnNews reported.The three judge court headed by Justice Faisal Arab of the Sindh…

(By Juan Cole) A series of pro-corporation Supreme Court decisions and the latter's disingenuous equation of money with speech, including "Citizens United", have turned the United States from a democracy to a…

(By Juan Cole) Could enormous popularity of Pope Francis spill over into American politics? Pope Francis is worried about inequality, a Democratic Party issue, and his statements and actions on the subject…

(By César Chelala) Richard Falk, United Nations rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories accused Israel last week of “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians. Speaking at a press conference, he said that…

(By Erin Evers) Few disagree that the Iraqi government’s increasingly Shia character has alienated its Sunni population—but what has mounting sectarian division meant for the rights of women and girls? Last October,…

Donald Rumsfeld: U.S. diplomacy would be better if Obama was a ‘trained ape’ (via Raw Story ) Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on Monday blasted President Barack Obama’s diplomacy, saying…

Creationists to Neil deGrasse Tyson: Evolution isn’t scientific, but the Book of Genesis is (via Raw Story ) Creationist Ray Comfort complained that Neil deGrasse Tyson had misrepresented the Bible. The astrophysicist…

THE HAGUE: Pakistan assured world community that it is considering ratification of the 2005 Amendment to the Convention on Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM) and are actively conducting a review to…

NBC's Meet the Press interviewed former president Jimmy Carter on Sunday, and he complained that the National Security Agency probably has him under electronic surveillance. He said that when he communicates with…

Australian Broadcast Co. and Journeyman Pictures: "The Frightening Israeli Army Used On Palestinian Children": For more on Israeli arrests and abuse of Palestinian children see this post from February.

The [United Nations'] Human Rights Council’s review of Saudi Arabia comes at a time of serious concern about the rights situation in the country. Authorities have intensified efforts to repress and silence…

It just baffles me that failed Neocons like Dan Senor are still given a hearing inside the Beltway. ABC News actually interviewed Senor, the spokesman for the Bush administration's illegal invasion and…

(From a Niqash Special Correspondent in Baghdad) A number of high profile MPs have been banned from running in Iraq’s upcoming general elections – allegedly because they contravene an electoral rule about…

Google Follows Snowden’s Advice, Encrypts All Gmail Messages (via BestTechie) Whether you think former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden is a hero or a traitor, at the very least you now…

Google's Page says US online spying threatens democracy (via AFP) Google co-founder Larry Page on Wednesday condemned US government snooping on the Internet as a threat to democracy. His comments came during…

Climate Change: ‘Abrupt,’ ‘Unpredictable,’ ‘Irreversible’ and ‘Highly Damaging’ (via Moyers & Company) In a rare move, the world’s largest scientific society released a report nudging the public to wake up to the…

(By Tom Engelhardt for Tomdispatch) [Editor's note]: Our old friend Colonel Manners (ret.) made his first appearance at TomDispatch last October. Today, he’s back for the third time. We have yet to run into anyone…

(By Andrew Beale) Map of Palestine from late 19th century. (Flickr/T.H. McAllister) Lior Amihai didn’t grow up knowing the location of the internationally recognized border between his native Israel and the West…

Celebrities press UN on Palestinian refugees in Syria (via AFP) Some 30 celebrities have petitioned the UN demanding they take action to protect civilians, notably Palestinian refugees, caught up in the Syria…

(Human Rights Watch) (Baghdad) – Iraq’s Council of Ministers should withdraw a new draft Personal Status Law and ensure that Iraq’s legal framework protects women and girls in line with its international…

(By Lewis Lapham) [This essay will appear in "Revolution," the Spring 2014 issue of Lapham's Quarterly. This slightly adapted version is posted at TomDispatch.com with the kind permission of that magazine.] In case…

(By Juan Cole) Russian President Vladimir Putin called his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani on Thursday, according to PressTV. The Russian press added that "A Kremlin statement said Putin had underlined to Rouhani…

(By Erdağ Göknar) The novel Snow by Nobel-prize-winning Turkish author Orhan Pamuk exposes the logic of Middle Eastern nationalism. Not surprisingly, political conspiracy has a prominent role to play in it. Turkish…

President Obama on funnyordie.com plugging the Affordable Health Care Act: Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis: President Barack Obama from President Barack Obama ----- Related video: The Young Turks: "Anger Over Obama…

(Jeffrey William Lewis) On February 23 the Winter Olympics in Sochi Russia concluded peacefully. A terrorist attack by Chechen Black Widow suicide bombers—much feared and highly anticipated by many in the American…

SXSW: Snowden Touts Encryption, Swipes at NSA (via slashdot) In a Google Hangout with an auditorium full of South by Southwest attendees, government whistleblower (and former NSA employee) Edward Snowden suggested that…

(By Juan Cole) Saudi Arabia's listing of the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization and the withdrawal of the Saudi, Kuwaiti United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain ambassadors from Qatar signal a big…

(By Robert Parry) President Barack Obama has been trying, mostly in secret, to craft a new foreign policy that relies heavily on cooperation with Russian President Vladimir Putin to tamp down confrontations…

(By Juan Cole) Bill O'Reilly maintains that one downside of having a woman president is that Muslims won't respect her. For Mr. O'Reilly's information, here are the women leaders of Muslim-majority countries,…

CIA: We Only Spied On Senate Intelligence Committee Because They Took Classified Documents That Prove We're Liars (via Techdirt) Earlier this week, we wrote about the accusations that the CIA was spying…

(via The Economist) Elections in India: Carnival of democracy (via The Economist) LET the contest begin. On March 5th India’s electoral commission, at last, set the dates for the largest democratic exercise…

(By Juan Cole) Hawks are complaining that Europe has been insufficiently belligerent in its response to Russian moves in the Crimea, blaming the declining military budgets in most European countries. But this…

(By Peter Van Buren) The Obama administration has just opened a new front in its ongoing war on whistleblowers. It’s taking its case against one man, former Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Air Marshal…

John Hickman, author of Selling Guantanamo, writes in a guest column for Informed Comment That the Crimean Crisis would be exploited by Republican Congressional leaders to criticize President Obama was inevitable. Politics…

(By Sarah Lazare) Israeli forces are killing Palestinian civilians in the West Bank — including children — with "callous disregard for human life," enjoying near impunity for likely war crimes, and should be…

(By Juan Cole) The usual suspects have been slamming President Obama for an alleged lack of leadership. Trolls for the military-industrial complex like Charles Krauthammer, and megalomaniacs from tiny states like Sen.…

Israel's Haredim, an Eastern European branch of Judaism emphasizing strict religious adherence, were a tiny minority at Israel's founding in 1948 and were given an exemption from conscription. Many Haredim rejected Zionism…

Solar Power In Movies (via Clean Technica) Originally published on Mosaic. By John Steller. From sci-fi to drama and adventure, movies capture our attention and spur imagination like no other medium. In…

From Ben Affleck and George Clooney to Madonna and Bono: A scorecard for celebrities in Africa (via GlobalPost) NAIROBI, Kenya — This Wednesday, Ben Affleck testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee…

Israeli negotiators repeatedly refuse to consider a right of return for Palestinians Israelis expelled from Palestine to refugee camps in the region. But refugees are without rights and open to serial catastrophes,…

(By Jacob Chamberlain) Climate change is accelerating full steam ahead and immediate action is neccessary, leading scientists from two countries clarified in an educational guide released Thursday.According to the The U.S. National…

(By Juan Cole) In the same way that pedophiles are attracted to professions where they come into frequent contact with children, peeping Toms surely are attracted into electronic surveillance work. That seems…